I Always Thought that I'd be the Queen
by MarBere123
Summary: Téa Gardner was born to be queen... or at least that's what they've always told her since she was engaged with Prince Atem; However, now that their engagement has been broken, what should she do? AU - PEACHSHIPPING IMPLIED.


**_Soo... At the request of cryingmybest I translated this one-shot. Also I was planning on doing like a sequel, but with other character's pov such as Mana and how her story with Atem really began, or about Yūgi and his life abroad and his daddy issues. I don't know. What do you think?_**

**_But, again, if you want to do something out of this, you should!_**

**_With nothing else to say, I hope you enjoy this!_**

**_I do not own YGO! DUEL MONSTERS. _**

* * *

Téa hugged her pillow tightly. Her long and pompous dress was totally uncomfortable, but she didn't even care.

She heard knocks on her door.

"Milady—"

"Go away!" she screamed. Téa didn't know who it was, but it was probably a maid.

"But lady, the Duke requires your presence."

Téa exhaled and sat on her bed. She couldn't refuse to answer the call of the Duke, that was how things worked.

"I understand," she replied simply.

She got up slowly and fixed her dress, although it was already beyond salvation.

When she left her room, the maid had already left, so the huge and lonely corridors received her. It wasn't too late, in fact, the sun was just hiding, but Téa couldn't help feeling that it had been a long time since she last went to her father's studio.

She stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath, then knocked twice.

"I heard you summoned me," she said as she entered.

Her father turned his back and looked out the huge window. On one side, her mother was sitting on one of the decorating sofas making an embroidery, pretending an apparent severe calm. None said anything for a few seconds, which only increased Téa's heartbeat.

Then she heard her father sigh.

"Could you explain what happened with Prince Atem?" he asked.

Téa swallowed, but didn't really know what to say. Before she could think about how to respond, moreover, when she began to open her mouth, her father turned and slammed his desk hard. The sound echoed in the room and both Téa and her mother jumped slightly.

"Why the hell did he break your engagement, Téa?!"

"I... This... He told me— Prince Atem said he has fallen in love with Lady Mana Owston," she explained as best she could.

"Lady Mana?" then her mother spoke for the first time, leaving aside her embroidery. "Isn't the Earl's bastard daughter?"

Téa swallowed.

"Yes, she, but—"

Her mother smiled and she cringed. That smile... Her parents were usually kind and caring people, but what bothered them, bothered them.

"And I didn't give you advice to keep her away from the Prince?"

"I tried, mother, but they—"

"Wait a minute," her father interrupted her. His fierce eyes then landed on his mother pointing at her with his index finger. "Was it you who told her to do all those things? Didn't you think about the consequences?! They were the perfect excuse to break the engagement!"

"Father, I don't—"

"Oh, dear, of course I thought about them, but it wasn't supposed to be something we had to worry about," her mother lifted her chin with disdain, as if Téa was a commoner who had made the mistake of dirtying her dress with mud. "What kind of Duke's daughter can't even win against the daughter of a simple Earl? Téa, we don't spend on the best education for you to lose against that... kind of wild girl."

"I think she's more liberal than wild," Téa dared to say, but then she repented.

Her father put his fingers in the middle of his eyebrows and massaged as if they were in the worst situation in the world.

"And now how am I supposed to face the other lords? What a shame! You are lucky not to have been exiled or revoked from your noble title."

Whatever was going to come out of her lips, it stopped. Téa didn't understand what her father was saying.

"Why would I—?"

"Enough," she was interrupted again. Her father seemed exhausted, so he took a seat. Her mother, on the other hand, approached him and began to massage his shoulders. "Go to your room... or wherever you want. I don't want to hear more."

"Oh, and fix your dress, or better change it. It's all wrinkled and scruffy," her mother added.

Téa clenched her lips at the same time that her fists wrinkled the fabric of her dress more. She hadn't even been able to tell her part of the story. Her dress didn't matter at that time. What the hell—?!

"Okay, I'm leaving," she said before heading out of the study.

She leaned her back against the door and exhaled. She couldn't stop her lips from shaking by evoking everything her parents had just told her. Why was it all her fault? What had she done, rather than wait for what they had promised? She did everything she was told. She waited patiently for her time, but when she thought it finally came, all Prince Atem did was break their engagement accusing her of things she hadn't done.

_Fine_, she told herself. Maybe she forced herself to ignore some bad jokes from her friends.

Maybe she shouldn't have let them humiliate Lady Owston as they did, but she never complained! Moreover, Téa believed that she was strong enough to overcome it on her own, never believed that she would complain to the Prince about the times she scolded her for doing inappropriate things for the daughters of lords —such as riding astride, or dance a waltz with the same man more than two times.

She felt so furious and humiliated. What would happen to all the years she lost when she was raised to be the perfect queen?

She always thought she would be the queen.

That was her position by right.

She clenched her jaw and stood straight again. She had to talk to Prince Atem. Convince him to return with her.

She. Had. To. Recover. What. Was. Hers.

* * *

Téa's carriage arrived on time as usual, but the tranquility of that day wasn't the same.

She was walking the same path she always walked, greeting the people she always saw, but hearing comments she never heard before.

_«Hey, did you hear the rumors?»_

_«Yes! My father told me that the prince broke his engagement.»_

_«Not only that, but he changed his fiancé for the bastard daughter of the Earl of Owston.» _

Téa stopped her steps and looked in the direction where the comments came from. Sitting in the great courtyard of Academia, were a group of girls, probably from younger years, daughters of officers or barons. It was no lie that a single glare was enough to shut their mouths up and divert their attention to another subject.

A sigh escaped her lips and she continued on her way.

As expected of the first Prince of the nation, Atem did a lot of administrative work inside the school apart from the study and his practices with the knights, so Téa had to hurry if she wanted to find him in the student committee office.

"Come in," he gave permission once she knocked on the door.

"Your Majesty," she greeted with a slight bow. Atem looked slightly surprised when he left a couple of papers on his desk.

But then a quiet smile appeared on his face.

"Téa, I didn't expect to see you here so soon," he said. "Do you need something?"

Téa squeezed the fabric of her dress.

If she needed something? Why did he say it so calmly, as if he were only going to talk about business or contracts? As if he hadn't broken up with her just a day ago?

_Ha_... She thought. Engagements were contracts, after all.

"I came to talk about... us," she dared to suggest.

She saw Atem's shoulders stiffen. It was obvious that that wasn't expected.

"Us?" he repeated. "I thought we had concluded everything effectively."

She raised both eyebrows. «Effectively» meant that they had reached an agreement, but the truth was that Téa wasn't at all in agreement with being given compensation and seeking another fiancé.

Who would want to marry someone who was rejected by the crown prince himself?!

No matter what the Royal family said, the rumors would be about her. Not about the Prince, not about the bastard Owston. The stain, the mistake, she would always have it.

It would always be her fault for not being good enough as a Duke's daughter!

"You know it's not like that," she replied. "You know what I thought and you know what my parents wanted from this. How can you do this to me, after all I had to do and learn for you? How can you change me for the daughter of a slu—?"

"Téa!" the Prince interrupted her by getting up from his desk. For a moment, Téa really got scared, because she forgot that she was now talking to the king's son, not her childhood friend. "For all the years we know each other, I will pretend I wasn't about to hear that."

However, she realized that he wouldn't punish her, because he knew that this was only the result of what he himself had caused.

So she took a breath and continued:

"And for all the years we know each other, I ask you to reconsider all this," she implored. "I don't care if you keep her as your mistress. I don't care if you love her children more than mine, as long as I'm the official wife—"

"As long as you are the queen and your son the next heir, you mean," he interrupted her again.

Téa swallowed when the prince closed one of his fists.

He never looked furious.

He was recognized for being someone with a cold mind and an impassive personality, but now... Téa wasn't sure, but it seemed that now she had touched one of his nerves.

But she forced herself not to back off.

"You can't break a engagement from so many years that simple!"

"Of course I can."

"Does the king know it?"

"Of course. He knows that I love the Earl's daughter."

"You love a bastard daughter! The daughter of a prostitute!"

"Stop talking like that, you're insulting me too, you know?!"

Atem exhaled looking desperate. Téa was cornering him in one way or another, but she also felt the same way.

So she missed the opportunity to apologize when he spoke again.

"Bastard or not, she was recognized by the Earl, which gives her enough nobility to be my wife," he said confidently before shaking his head and looking into her eyes. "You're not like that, Téa. What's wrong with you?"

Téa felt her right eye tremble and clenched her fists even more, if that was possible.

"What's wrong with me? What about you?! How can you choose that girl over me?! How can you choose someone who complains about such simple things as scolding and then use it as an excuse to throw me away?!" she tried to take a deep breath to calm down, but she failed. If Téa continued like that, she would probably say something she would regret later; however, there was something Téa had to ask, no matter what. Her voice suddenly lost strength. "Have you never liked me the way I like you?"

The Prince was silent for several seconds, but his eyes never left Tea's.

Not until he decided to respond.

"You are wrong," he said with an expression she couldn't recognize, confusing her. "What you like is not me."

And before Téa could say anything else, the Prince turned his back on her, silently telling her it was time for Téa to leave.

Téa swallowed her frustrated words. Tightening her lips, she turned to return where she had come.

* * *

"Weren't you a little hard on someone you've known since age five?" asked a voice entering through the door that connected that room with the one on the side.

Atem exhaled before laying his back on the wall of the room. His gaze went out of the large window, which gave vision to the entire Academy.

"She's lucky I decided not to exile her or something. Imagine that Dad had been in my place," he tried to joke, but they both knew the answer to that scenario.

He heard a sigh.

"You're right, but still, what she says doesn't lose value. In theory, it would be better if you did what she suggests."

Atem denied.

"Maybe if Mana hadn't been recognized, it would be an option, but we both know it's not like that. Besides," his gaze returned to the boy he was talking to. "I couldn't do the same thing Dad did to you, Yūgi."

Yūgi, his younger brother, son of the only Queen there had been, smiled as if what he said did not matter.

"It's also not like I wanted to be king, you know," he shrugged, but for Atem the resentful tone in his voice didn't go unnoticed.

Seeing his younger brother was almost like looking in the mirror, the only physical differences they had were reduced to a little face features and skin color.

It's not that his father hated the queen, his official wife, but it was obvious that the love he felt for Atem's mother was more real and deeper than what he felt for the queen.

Atem was the first to be conceived and, for obvious and official reasons, the king was forced to conceive with the queen some time later. However, the queen never recovered from childbirth and died a few years after giving birth to Yūgi, so, although his mother couldn't take the position due to her roots, the king was able to make him the legitimate heir of the throne and leave Yūgi the post of diplomat, or representative of the nation in other countries.

"Anyway, I think I should go," he said, saying goodbye with one hand.

Atem smiled a little and nodded knowing what Yūgi was going to do.

"Yes, you should do that."

And he looked through the window again. While Yūgi said that he didn't want to be king and that he didn't care, the negligence of the king —their father— had marked him in a way that only children treated in the same way could understand.

Atem didn't hate his father, he loved him, but he also loved his brother too much to forgive the King for that.

And so he couldn't forgive Téa for degrading her own value and that of her future children, without thinking about what they would feel.

* * *

She exhaled exasperatedly. She couldn't even think about going to classes at that time. She was tired of hearing the murmurs around her and feeling the ill-intentioned looks in her direction.

And now what was she going to do?

She knew that somehow she had to recover what she had lost, but how was she going to do it, if the prince didn't even want to hear her?

Maybe she had been too harsh?

_No_.

Her suggestion was within the acceptable, surely someone had already proposed something like that. Then why? Why did he seem to dislike so much her now? A ball was approaching. It was to celebrate the return of Prince Yūgi and the graduation of Prince Atem.

Was she supposed to appear alone?

"Excuse me, you dropped this."

She stopped her steps suddenly and turned around. Although she already knew that voice, she was still surprised to see her standing there with her handkerchief in her hand as if nothing happened between them.

Her blond hair and fair skin contrasted with the characteristics of Prince Atem, but they didn't look bad.

She had to admit it, the girl in front of her was very beautiful and made a good aesthetic combination with her now ex-fiancé.

But Téa couldn't care less.

"Let's go, Lady Mana, she could hurt you," said one of the girls behind the prince's new fiancé.

The other nodded carefully.

"It's better to leave," she suggested.

But Mana looked at them with a frown.

"Come on, girls, don't be like that," she scolded uncomfortably.

Téa reluctantly received the handkerchief she had dropped.

"Hm, now you behave like a tragic heroine?" she questioned.

Lady Owston raised both eyebrows.

"I don't know what you mean."

She smiled wryly.

"Oh, come on, I'm sure you've read a couple of novels like that. In which the protagonist is so good that she even defends the antagonist who at some point harassed and intimidated her."

"Huh?" she blinked confused.

Téa exhaled and rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Oh... Apparently, books and novels aren't something that a prostitute's daughter knows," and for the first time in what she had been watching, she saw the sweet Lady Mana clench her jaw angrily.

"We may have our differences, but I ask you please not to insult or put my mother in this," she demanded.

Téa shrugged.

"Or what? Will you accuse me again with his Majesty? I thought you had obtained what you wanted."

"What are you talking about?" she wanted to know.

Téa didn't know what kind of frustration she was feeling when she saw hwr ignorance.

"What am I talking about? Ha! Is it serious? You stole my boyfriend and my future, and you don't know what I'm talking about?!"

Mana pursed her lips, clearly upset.

"My intention was never to steal anything," she declared before starting to continue on her way. "And I don't like where this conversation is going. So if you excuse me—"

But just as she passed by, Téa couldn't take it anymore.

Who had thought she was to finish the conversation first? Who was she to treat her like she was nothing?! She took away her fate, damn it!

"Then give it back to me," she ordered taking her arm and stopping her.

She didn't know if she had hurt her, but she did hear her gasp.

"Give me back what is mine!"

_«You have to use any method, Téa.» _

"If you're not interested in being a queen, then stay by his side as his mistress! If you didn't want to fall in love with him then get away!"

_«But he doesn't love me, mother, and to be honest me nei—» _

_«Oh, how naive my daughter. What does it matter if you don't love each other. Being queen is your destiny. Representing the women of our country is something that only you can do. You were born for that.» _

She pulled her back and faced her face to face.

"Give me back my reason for existing!"

"L-Lady Gardner!" she heard one of the girls get scared.

"You're hurting me, let go!" and then she heard Lady Owston shout at her.

For the first time she heard someone of lower rank giving her orders. Téa felt offended.

_«Daughter of a Duke and granddaughter of a Marquis. Only a princess would have better blood than you, but luckily there is none.» _

"Now you think you are equal to me, or better than me?! Do not believe so much just for being his fiancee!" she exclaimed.

Téa saw her expression reflected in Mana's green eyes and what she didn't like what she saw. She felt so... pathetic.

Atem was right, that was not her. That desperate and disheveled image wasn't hers. But then, who was she really? She was always educated to be queen. She always thought she would be queen. That's why she behaved in the best way. The way nobody had complaints, but praise and admiration.

But she wasn't going to be queen anymore, so she couldn't stop. It was as if something had taken hold of her and she was sure that in her expression there was nothing but horror of herself.

She wanted to stop, breathe and recover whatever she had lost in order to get along like this, but—

Then she felt that one hand rested on her shoulder and another held her by the arm with which she had held Lady Owston.

Her breathing was agitated and her heartbeat could be heard in her head, and she hadn't realized it.

"Well, I think it would be better to stop this at once, right?" Téa reacted to the voice that emerged.

She turned her head slightly.

"Prince Yūgi?" the boy smiled at her as he always did and nodded.

"It's been a while, Téa," he said. "But I think we're not at the best time to talk, are we?"

His amethyst eyes, slightly kinder than Atem's, landed on Téa's hand, which was still tightly curled on Lady Owston's wrist. For some reason her gaze became watery.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry!" she apologized upon notice that she had practically left her fingers marked on the white skin of Lady Owston.

Mana let go of her grip with a strong pull.

"You are sorry, you say?" she replied. "You've been accusing me of stealing what «is yours» and have demanded that I return it, and you are apologizing to me? Can you not see the problem in all this?"

Téa nodded.

"I have offended you, I—"

"I do not mean that!" she interrupted her. It seemed that she had gained more courage in responding, but the truth was that Téa could see that it wasn't that, but that her feelings were overflowing, so she just let her continue. "Do you even know why Prince Atem left you? You are so absurdly upset that you don't even know your own feelings or his!"

"My own feelings?" repeated Téa.

Lady Owston looked up and connected her eyes directly to Téa's, completely ignoring their positions and that the second prince was there.

She took a breath and continued.

"Duty as queen is not only to support him in political matters, but in private matters, and yet, where were you when he was so stressed that he couldn't even smile openly? Where were you when he needed a breath of fresh air and not a burial in documents? What the hell were you doing when he—! "

"Lady Owston, I remind you that you are not talking to a nobody," then Yūgi intervened, surprising Téa and silencing the Earl's daughter.

Mana pursed her lips and nodded.

"I am sorry that you had to witness this, Your Majesty," she apologized with a bow, although it was obvious that she did it nothing more than by obligation.

Téa remained silent when the Earl's daughter decided to retire with her companions.

_«If it seems that the Prince deviates, it is your duty to return him to the right path.»_

She pursed his lips.

"Could you leave me at once?" she asked Yūgi.

He seemed to realize that he hadn't yet released her shoulder or her arm.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said.

Téa sighed away a few steps. She no longer knew what to feel. Did the Earl's daughter know something she didn't?

"I have to go," she bowed slightly before turning around.

However Yūgi didn't allow it.

"Are you going to attend the Ball?" he asked.

She stopped and looked at him again.

"Appear alone? You know I can't do that," she replied.

"And why don't you come as my partner?" he wanted to know.

Téa raised an eyebrow. She hadn't seen Prince Yūgi face to face for years, since as part of his studies, the King had sent him to neighboring kingdoms like Maiami or Heartland, but she would never have imagined seeing him so changed.

She smiled resignedly and clasped her two hands in front of her body.

"You know I can't do that either."

"Why?"

Yes, he had changed. Before he would stutter just to answer her.

"Because going alone, or going with someone else, would only confirm what I am not yet willing to accept," she replied.

Yūgi sighed.

"You are very stubborn," he said. "Why can't you let my brother go?"

She clenched her fingers. She felt how they strangled each other.

"I thought you'd understand me," she let out. Treating him as her equal wasn't allowed, but he was her childhood friend, he wouldn't condemn her for something like that. "All my life I was raised to be his wife. It's as if I suddenly had no reason to be."

"You weren't raised to be his wife," Yūgi replied. "You were educated to be queen and if that's the case, then if I—"

"Don't say it," Téa interrupted him. She didn't want to listen about a coup even if that was an hypothetical case. "I have to go."

"Téa..."

But Téa no longer stopped and, instead, looked for a carriage to go home.

Unlike other days, her parents didn't receive her. She also didn't have lunch with them and didn't even say good night.

They were upset with her and she couldn't blame them. She had embarrassed them. She had disappointed them.

She wasn't good enough as a daughter. It didn't matter how much she had tried.

And without realizing it, the day of the Ball arrived.

As well as an unexpected visit.

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" he asked for the umpteenth time.

Mana laughed to dispel the worry.

"She won't kill me, Prince, you know her well," she replied, although honestly, Mana wasn't quite sure what she said.

Prince Atem watched her silently for several seconds before sighing.

"I understand," he ended up saying. "But anyway try not to—"

"Prince..."

"Fine. Okay, I won't say more," she smiled and walked over to kiss his cheek.

The horses pulling the carriage whinnied a little and one of the servants knocked on the door announcing that they had already reached the home of the Duke of Gardner.

Mana took a deep breath and armed herself with courage. She hadn't gotten ready for the Ball yet, but she didn't care much.

She couldn't bear to be on bad terms with the Duke's daughter, not because Mana thought she was at fault, but because it wasn't her nature. She would also have reacted so hostile if she didn't know the truth of the story.

"Mana," the Prince called her once more before leaving for the palace. She looked at him. "Thank you."

She couldn't help smiling.

"Is nothing!"

* * *

Téa guided Lady Owston into her living room. The silence around them was overwhelming, but she wasn't intimidated by it.

Both took a seat and while the butler offered tea, Lady Owston refused to mention that it would be a quick conversation.

However, some minutes had already passed and she hadn't said anything.

"I see you haven't gotten dressed yet," Téa said to break the ice.

"The same goes for you."

"I'm not going. I don't feel... in the best condition," she explained awkwardly.

"Does it have to do with me and with his Majesty?" she wanted to know and Téa smiled sarcastic.

"I can't imagine how you knew," she replied. "I'd like to know why you came at once."

Lady Owston took a breath and nodded.

"The first time I saw Prince Atem was at the entrance ceremony. To be honest—"

Téa raised a hand.

"Did you come to make fun?" she accused.

But the Earl's daughter wasn't scared and only denied.

"Anyone who would have been in my place that day would be here talking to you today. So if you want to know the reason behind it, you will have to hear me. Will you do it?"

For a few seconds, Téa was surprised. She knew that the Earl's bastard daughter was recognized for her boldness and she recognized her for being liberal, but it still seemed somewhat impetuous behavior.

She just lowered her hand and nodded.

"Did you know that the King got sick this year?" suddenly she seemed to change the subject.

Confused, Téa replied:

"Of course, he was in bed for a week before the start of classes at Academia," she said.

But she was impressed when the Earl's daughter shook her head.

"It's worse than that," she confessed. "He was in bed until after the start of classes, even during the welcome dance. It is believed that he is still at risk. That's why the second Prince left his studies before and returned."

Téa blinked confused. She didn't know about that.

"Continue, please," she asked.

"During the first dance, it was his worst moment and many arrangements were made in case the first prince should take office ahead of schedule," she looked at her. "Now I ask you, during that party, did you even spend time with the Prince?"

Téa frowned. Of course she had spent time with her fiance back then. He went to pick her up, they arrived together, they danced a song and then...

_Huh?_

"Exactly," the Earl's daughter continued. "The Prince went out to take a breath for a long time, and it was at that moment that I saw him for the first time."

"Didn't you just say that the first time you saw him was at the entrance ceremony?"

She smiled as if remembering something and moved her blond hair behind her ear.

"In that garden, it was when I first saw his true face, Lady Gardner. When I saw him at the entrance ceremony, he seemed more like a doll than a person. Without expressing anything really with that fake smile. In the garden of the palace, on the other hand, he looked so... worried," her calm expression disappeared and she became serious again when she looked at her.

"He was scared. Worried about his father and the job he would have to take, for which he didn't feel prepared. You surely believe that he fell in love with me with an evil plan or something, but the truth is that anyone who would had found him there and would have empathized with him, would have stolen your place, even a simple maid. Because you weren't there to him. Because you were never for the sake of his feelings, but for the sake of his position and the one that would correspond to you when you were married."

_«You're wrong. What you like is not me.» _Atem's words sounded in her head like an echo.

"So that's what he meant," Téa said out loud, averting her gaze to the coffee table that separated them.

The Earl's daughter was right. Téa never thought about Atem's feelings, or her own, but only concentrated on waiting.

Wait for what she took for granted. What her parents had tried to fix for her.

Mana smiled kindly. What a fool she had been.

"I don't think you are a bad person, Lady Gardner," she continued. "I just think you confused your feelings. The Prince and the throne are not the same."

Téa parted her lips and then smiled realizing things.

"No. They aren't," she agreed and leaned back on the couch facing the ceiling.

Even if she accepted everything Lady Owston had said, Téa still felt insecure and misplaced. Her parents were another subject even.

"Well, I think it's time to retire," Mana said getting up.

Only then did Téa remember something.

"Wait a minute," she stopped her. Lady Owston looked at her again. "Why did you tell me all this?" she wanted to know.

The Earl's daughter thought about it.

"I just wanted you to know the Prince's feelings," she explained.

"So you couldn't tell me this before accusing me of things I didn't do?" questioned.

Once again, the Earl's daughter looked at her without understanding.

"I've never accused you of anything," she replied. "On the contrary, I was always grateful to you every time you corrected my behavior. The Countess would have bothered me «for not making her house look good,»" she explained, making quotes with her fingers.

Téa frowned.

"Then who...?"

Mana sighed.

"His Majesty needed an excuse to break the engagement. The second Prince gave him the idea."

Téa couldn't believe it. She opened and closed her lips looking for what to say, but there were simply no words.

Why would Yūgi do something like that? Weren't they friends?

The Earl's daughter gave a soft laugh.

"He didn't do it for bad, believe me," she said.

"Then?" she wanted to know.

Mana smiled at her.

"Well, I bet you thought that now that you had been rejected by the first Prince, no other good suitor would want you."

"What do you mean by that?"

"That there is someone and he isn't less than Atem."

Téa put her hands to her face when she realized what she was suggesting. Her face felt hot after a long time.

"So, now will you go to the Ball?" the Earl's daughter insisted with a pleasant smile. "It seems to me that not only my engagement will be announced."

Téa laughed. After all the trouble they had, it seemed impossible that they could be friendly between them.

But...

The Earl's daughter shrugged.

That girl had something special.

Now Téa could also understand why Prince Atem had fallen in love with her.

Now she thought Lady Owston would be a good queen.


End file.
